Duterte’s colorful language

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

New presidential frontrunner Rodrigo Duterte knows how to use colorful language to get people’s attention from saying he would kill criminals to challenging Liberal Party bet Mar Roxas to a fistfight.

With opponents ganging up on him, he advised his rivals to pray and “cry sincerely” for their ratings to rise.

Imagine Grace Poe, Jejomar Binay, Roxas and Miriam Defensor Santiago down on their knees nahumahagulhol imploring divine providence for them to win come May elections.

The Davao City mayor however conceded ratings could change expressing hope he would maintain his lead.He twitted his closest rival Poe, noting her new emphasis on going after drug dealers and fighting criminality if she wins. “Wala silang originality, bankruptcy of the mind,” Duterte said.

Duterte’s running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also questioned Poe’s announced plan to stop crime and illegal drugs as reported by the Philippine Star. 

Cayetano dared Poe to publish her timeline, noting that she did nothing to stop the twin scourges the past years when she chaired the committee on public order.“Why only now? Didn’t you think it was urgent until it was brought up by our side?” Cayetano asked. 

Poe had promised before some local government officials in Surigao City that she would stop crime and illegal drugs, but in a “fair and just” manner. “Our problems that have to do with crime and drugs will be immediately addressed, but it will be addressed fairly and justly hindi lang po patayan ang solusyon palagi (killing is not the only solution),” Poe said. 

Duterte, who grabbed the top spot from Poe in recent surveys, said he was not reneging in his stance against crime, illegal drugs and corruption. 

He said that he would use the Philippine National Police and the military to hunt and kill the criminals in the first six months of his presidency.

“I said I will destroy criminality and everything, go after them, ganyan lang. Alammo, you stop them, hold them, assuming may pinataya ko bukas, mayroon na naming bago ulit (I killed one tomorrow, another will replace him),” he told reporters to alarm of human rights advocates. 

Duterte believes that an “iron fist” is what the Filipino people need to instill discipline in his administration.Duterte urged the Filipino people not to vote for Binay because he will surely steal the money of the people if he wins.

Duterte said if Binay wins, the Filipino people will suffer as he would steal the treasury unlike him, if he wins, only criminals will suffer the consequences because of committing crimes.

Duterte’s partner Honeylet Avanceña also defended the mayor from Binay’s tirade that he has no respect for women and children. She said Duterte’s former wife would not come out and support his presidential bid if he is disrespectful to women. 

“Siya ang pinaka respectful kasi lahat ng babae ay tinatawag niyang ma’m (He is the most respectful because he calls all women ma’m),” she said in a press statement. Avanceña was referring to Duterte’s ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman, who stopped her cancer therapy to join their daughter Sara in campaigning for the mayor through the “Biyaheng Du30 2016” caravan. 

She said she is not affected by the dirty tactics that Duterte’s rivals are now employing.Zimmerman, ceased radiation sessions to embark on a 30-day bus journey to campaign for her husband. “We remained good friends despite the annulment of our marriage. Some people are negative about it, I know. But he is still the father of my children – that is why we remained friends,” said Zimmerman, adding that their marriage in church has not been annulled yet. 

Zimmerman arrived in Cebu Wednesday morning onboard the Biyaheng DU30 bus, which has been on the road since April 5.

Initiated by Zimmerman and Sara, Biyaheng DU30 is a parallel campaign for the presidential bid of Duterte.

Despite the annulment of their marriage in 1998, the former couple reportedly maintained a friendly relationship, always keeping lines of communication open.

They were married for almost 25 years and had three children – Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, lawyer Sara and entrepreneur Sebastian.

Duterte said the hope he offers to people is the reason thousands turn up at his political rallies even in Metro Manila and that the clamor for him to become president has grown. 

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Despite the recent surge in survey ratings of Duterte, an executive of pollster Pulse Asia still believes that the upcoming elections will be a tight race.

Pulse Asia research director Ana Maria Tabunda noted the fluidity in the survey results of the presidential bets since the start of election season.She also noted that the other bets have trained their guns on Duterte in recent days and this may affect his numbers.

“We don’t know how his supporters will take it, especially the ones who have recently shifted” support, said Tabunda. “A lot of things can happen.”

Duterte solidified his lead in the latest Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations (SWS) surveys released last week.

The tough-talking mayor obtained the lead with 27 percent in the March 30 to April 2 SWS survey released on Monday.

He was followed by Sen. Grace Poe with 23 percent, Vice President Jejomar Binay with 20 percent and Liberal Party candidate Manuel Roxas II with 18 percent.

In the March 29-April 3 Pulse Asia survey commissioned by ABS-CBN and released on Tuesday, Duterte led with 30 percent, followed by Poe with 25 percent.

Binay and Roxas are statistically tied for third place with 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago trailed in both surveys, obtaining three percent in SWS and two percent in Pulse Asia.

In recent days, Duterte’s rivals, particularly Binay and Roxas, have pounded on his track record, particularly the allegations of extrajudicial killings thrown at him.

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While fluidity is observed in pre-election surveys, there is a high turnout in the first three days of overseas absentee voting (OAV) for the May 2016 elections, according to the Commission on Elections.

Comelec Commissioner Arthur Lim said 32,364 Filipinos, mostly from Middle East and Asia Pacific, cast their votes as of 7 a.m. yesterday.

Filipinos in the Middle East and Africa registered the highest number of those who cast their votes so far at 14,453, followed by voters from Asia Pacific with 13,081, Europe with 4,485 and the Americas and Canada with 345.

“We have a very good number and this is an indication or signal that come May 9 we will be able to surpass or breach the 50 percent mark of total registered overseas absentee voters,” Lim said in a press statement.

He also said many Filipino overseas voters are encouraged to participate because of the tight battle for the presidency as well as the Comelec’s dissemination of information about OAV.

“Because this is a close fight among presidential candidates, it is but natural for candidates and their supporters to give their utmost attention not only locally but also abroad, because the votes from the more than one million overseas voters can affect the results of the elections,” he explained.

“As you may have observed, all the presidential candidates went to campaign in Hong Kong and Singapore and this could be one of the factors why many have already cast their votes,” he added.  

Lim also admitted that there were minor hitches such as reports of vote counting machines (VCMs) bogging down, voters with deactivated records requesting to vote and reports of cheating.

Comelec recalled the malfunctioning VCMs and deployed 25 replacements for contingency. The poll body also set up hotlines to assist voters.

Comelec Office for Overseas Voting director Jane Valesa said the poll body is checking reports that some registered overseas voters in Hong Kong were unable to vote.

She said some voters were not able to vote because their names could not be found in the official list of registered voters, while others were listed but were not able to vote in past two elections so their registration was deactivated.

“The Comelec cannot just allow those who are claiming that they are registered voters to vote because we will be opening the floodgates to flying voters,” Lim explained.

Regarding reports of cheating spreading online, Lim said it was not true but the Comelec would initiate an investigation.

“There is no truth to such report so we will ask the law department to investigate so that appropriate charges can be filed against those who are trying to spread false information and undermining the credibility of the elections,” he explained.